The Strike Is Over—for Don Draper

Mix yourself a Manhattan and fire up a Lucky Strike, baby: Mad Men is free to go back into production on its second season. The Writers Guild announced another interim side deal, this time with Lionsgate studio, which produces Mad Men as well as Weeds. One of the feared side effects of the strike is that, even after it’s settled, it could end up pushing back the return of our favorite cable shows, which, like Mad Men, were supposed to have begun churning out new scripts already. While the pipeline may still be jammed for the likes of Big Love et al., depending on when the strike is ultimately settled, at least we’re this much closer to returning to the smoke-filled rooms of Sterling Cooper (and the, er, other-smoke-filled rooms of Agrestic, California). Ain’t that a kick in the head. In a good way.